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POST CONCUSSION

By Merle Bertrand | October 18, 1999

“Just two little words,” warns this film’s understated movie poster. “Serious brain damage.” Such is the twisted, offbeat humor of Daniel Yoon’s clever quasi-autobiographical comic satire “Post Concussion.” Matthew (Yoon) is a sharp as a shark, pragmatically ruthless workaholic management consultant at a Fortune 1000 firm. For his considerable skills at paring down corporate workforces, and thus laying off thousands of employees, he’s paid a handsome salary that almost compensates for his Spartan existence and the complete lack of meaning to his life. Enter the car, which strikes the distracted suit and sends him flying through the air, his head thwacking the concrete like a melon on the “Late Show.” Weeks later, unable to work due to the splitting headaches, lack of concentration and memory loss associated with severe concussions, Matthew goes on disability. As he seeks out a bewildering and amusing variety of New Age cures and therapists, he takes advantage of the downtime to take stock of and ultimately redirect his life. “Post Concussion” is a charming and disarming winner, primarily due to Yoon’s relaxed and natural portrayal of Matthew. It lingers too long in a few spots, namely scenes of the recovering patient’s endless channel surfing and the falling in love scenes between Matthew and his (former) East German neighbor Monica (Jennifer Welch), but that’s okay. Why a pleasant, otherwise intelligent fellow like Yoon, still suffering from debilitating headaches on occasion some five years after his real life accident/career change, would take on the horrid hassles of making a movie is anyone’s guess. Lucky for us, he did just that. And if “Post Concussion” doesn’t get picked up, it proves that distributors are suffering from some serious brain damage of their own.

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